Collapsible poultry-coop.



UNITE@ STES PATENT OFFICER ARTHUR-J. MINOPRIO, OP STONEWALL, MISSISSIPPI, ASSIGNOR T0 H. C. DEAR, OF

' ENTERPRISE, MISSISSIPPI.

COLLAPSIBLE PQULTRY-COOP.

To all /c/mm it :1mg/commu.'

lie it known that l, n'ruijn J. Mrxocmo, a subject ot' the King ot' Great Britain, residing at Stonewall, in the county of Clarke and State ot' Mississippi. have invented certain new and useful YImprovements in Collapsiblv` loultry-toops; and I do hereby a full, clear, and exact description o't' the invention, such as will enablel others skilled inthe art to which it appertaius to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in collapsible poultry coops,

principal object to provide a device which, after having been shipped, may be folded so as to occupy a minimum amount of space in a car or other vehicle so that the cost ot' the return of the crate will be minimized.

Another object of the invention is to provide a poultry coop which will remain rigid when opened and which is so braced that it is prevented from collapsing. A. further object of the invention is to provide a poultry coop provided with a door in the front wall thereofl so that the contents may be removed without thenecessity of removiing other coops which may be piled upon the top thereof.

lVith these and other objects in view, the

and has tor its invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts which will be fully set forth in the following specitication and accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is aperspectiveview of a coop constructed in accordance with this invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the coop showing. the first step taken in the folding of the same, View similar' to Fig.

- step in the folding of the device, Fig. et

is an end view in elevation showing the device iniits folded position, and Fig. 5

an end view in elevation showing the device in its open position.

Referringv to the of reference, the-numera'l entirety'the front wall of drawings by characters deslgnates as an the device comvprising the strips 2 and 3 which extend longitudinally thereof and form the side edges of the said wall, these strips being connected by means of the nprights Ll'and- 5, and the brace bars 6 and 7 are secured intermediate the ends of the strlps to form a frame for the door 8 Specification of Letters Patent.

Fig. 3 is a perspective- 2 showing the second which is pivoted be- Patentea oet. 1o, 191e.

Application mea nay 5, 1915. `serial No. 26,026;

tween the strips as clearly shown in Figs. r. 2,*and A suitable catch 9 of any suitable construction is secured to thestrips and is arranged tohold the door in its closed position. Secured to thestrip of the trame forming the front wall 1 is'a su1tablc flange 10 toxwhich the top is Irii'igedv as will' be more fully. hereinafter described'. A similar `tia-nge 11is secured' to the lower strip 2, and to this flan-ge ijs secured the bottom wall which will be more fully hereinafter described. Theflange 11 is-of greater so'A width than the flange l0 as clearly shown in the drawings and4 is so constructed' to compensate for the Width of the iange carried by the rear wall which` coperates with the iange 10. l i

The top wall of the device comprises two, separate Jtrames, designated generally by the. numerals l2 and 13, each of'which com# prises the side bars 1l .and end bars 15.' 'Ihese frames 12 and 13 are hinged together as at 16 and the edge of the is not hinged to the frame. 12, is hingedly` securedI to the flange 10 in such a-way that it will-fold downwardly as illustrated in Fig. The hinge securing the frame 13 to the {ian-ge 10 is designated by the numeral v17 and* is placed on the under side of the frame and iange.

The bottom wall of the coop' comprisesl the two separate frames'18 and 19, each of which comprises lthe side strips 20 and end strips 2l, and these trames, like the frames 12 and 13, are hingedly secured as at2 so that they will fold inwardly. Suitable hinges 23 connect the framelS to the Hangel1 so that the bottom will t'old upwardly as indicated in Fig. 3.

T he rear wall of the crate is designated generally by the numeral 24 and comprises the strip 25 which is provided near each end with the upright 2-, A central standard 27 is secured intermediate the ends of the strip 25 and forms a brace for the same. A suitable flange 2S is secured to the upper edge of the strip Q5 and hingedly connected to this l'lange as at Q9 is the edge of the frame l2 opposite the one which is hinged to the frame 13. The edge of the trame 19 opposite the one which is hinged to the edge of the vtrame 18, is secured hingedly as at 30 to each of the uprights 2G and 27, and it will thus be seen that a coop is provided frame 13, which In order to form end closures for the coop and also to brace the same andhold it in its-open position, the end walls designated generally by the numeral 31, are provided and each of these walls comprises the top and bottom strips and 33 which are con nected to each other by the end strips 34C.

Suitable brace wires are provided and ex.

tend from' opposite corners of the frames 3l S0 as to prevent the salne from becoming racked.

In .order to hold the device in its folded and unfolded positions, there are provided Jthe thumb screws 36 which are threaded through apertures formed in the upright 2G of the rear wall 2l and engage in apertures formed in the end bars 3l of the frames 3l. These thumb screws are arranged to be re- .leased so that the end walls may be swung into the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 to enable the device t0 be folded. Suitable screw threaded apertures are formed in the end faces 21 of the frames 18 and `1f), and these openings are arranged to aline with theopenings 'through which the thumb screws 36 extend so that when the device is in its folded position, the thumb' screws )vill endevicein place.

It will be apparent from the foregoing thatin use, the device is Vnormally opened as shown in Fig. l. lV hen it is desired to reship the device and return it to the shipper,

vgage in the threadedg,apertures and hold the .the end walls.3l are pressed inwardly as illustrated in Fig. Zand when they have been forced clear back so that they engage the front wall as illustrated in Fig. 3, the ton and bottom walls are then folded inwardly on their hinges so that thev assume the position shown in FigQL-l, and upon press- 'ing the front and rear walls toward each other, 1t will be apparent that the device may be closed'jsothat it will give the appearance neel-,21e

within the spirit and scope of the invention claimed. l

What is claimed is:

A collapsible poultry coop comprising front and rear walls, a door hinged to said front wall, flanges formed on the upper and lower edges of the front wall and extending in the direction of said rear wall, the lower flanges extending` to a point beyond the up per flange, a flange formed on the upper edge of the rear wall andextending in the direction of the front wall, a bottom consistine: of a pair of frames hinged together and to the lower flange of the front wall and to the lower edge of the rear wall and adapted to be folded upwardlv in the direction of the flange of the rear wall, a top consisting of a pair of frames hinged together and the upper flange of the front wall and the flange of" the rear wall and adapted to be folded down wardly in the direction of the llower flange .of thefront Wall, and end walls hinged to vthe ends of the front wall and adapted to be folded inwardly to fold the top and bottom frames. y v

ln testimony whereof I allix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR .T. MlNUPRIO. Witnesses G. W. SHAW, A. M. ZAcInaY. 

